Male Pattern Boldness is proud to be the world's most popular men's sewing blog!

May 24, 2012

Readers, do you trust your own taste? I mean, if you don't like something that's popular, do you wonder if you're just too small-town and unsophisticated to get it, or like the boy in The Emperor's New Clothes, are you able to confidently call it like you see it?
Things we get used to seeing a lot -- thong underwear, strip malls, my cousin Cathy -- start to look normal, no matter how weird they may have seemed at first. Which brings me to today's topic: the bubble dress. I don't have to explain what this is, do I? It speaks for itself.

The bubble has been with us at least since the 1950's (blame Dior?) and, like mildew and Charo, no matter how often it goes away, it keeps coming back. During the more streamlined Seventies it seemed like the bubble had been eradicated, but in the Eighties, there it was again!

The bubble is back again today -- and what's more, it has become a prom perennial: shorter, shinier, and bubblier than ever.

The bubble is not going anywhere, so I guess it's time to make peace with its voluminous ugliness. No, that's not fair -- there is one body type that looks OK in the bubble: the ballerina. The general rule is that if any other part of your body even vaguely resembles a bubble, avoid it.

I have one bubble skirt, and it is not a very full bubble, but it is SO much fun to dance in, and done in a way that it doesn't make me feel like I have a second waistline. I think it's one of those things you just have to style properly or avoid completely.

It's sooooo damn ugly! I see so many cheap tacky versions in those strip mall stores. Christian Lacroix is the culprit who pushed the look in the eighties! You couldn't be more right when you said the only ones who could wear it are ballerinas! LOL!!

Ok, so maybe it is the 80s brainwashing talking here, but I *actually* sort of like the bubble hem. Now, I agree that the look is best on dancers and actors, but I still kinda like it. I can't even say why. Maybe because it makes me think of all the 80s proms in tv and movies? Who knows...

That reverse bubble... now *that* is seriously fugly. It doesn't even look good on the models...

I've hated bubble dresses since I was a kid in the bubble-dress-revival days of the Eighties. No matter how glamorous the rest of the dress is, I see the skirt and can only think "diaper". Or, worse, "loaded diaper".

I think many of us remain scarred by the hideous pouffey ruchey concoctions of the bouffant '80s - early '90s. But if I shield my eyes from those, I'm finding I actually rather like several of the other bubble dresses you show.

Tulip dresses however, I do not like at all... The shape is just wrong.

I have to take the side of the bubble. On the right wearer, a bubble is flirty, gala and chic. It works best on a younger wearer who is coltishly built, and it NEVER looks right when accessorized with major jewelry or furs. It's a young woman's fun party look, something you do during those all-too-brief years where we can wear what we damn well please and look great.

The Bubble -- like The Sack Dress -- is deliberately non-alluring. It is DESIGNED to obliterate the feminine form. The male equivilent is sweat pants.

Each style fits in with a certain small segment of the population which wishes to be noticed for its clothing rather than its allure.

My reaction is: Okay, duly noted.

The only time I wear sweat pants is at the gym. And maybe when it's so cold out and I'm going to be outside so long I need extra warmth, and will pull a pair of sweat pants over my blue jeans. But that's function over form.

I'm with you. Cut the bubble dress, and while you are at it, sorry to the majority of the fashion world, peel off those leg warmers and get rid of them! UGH. (I feel like I'm alone with the leg warmers thing). :)

On me no I do not like the bubble dress but I would like to add a category for when it looks good. I think they are down right adorable on girls under the age of I would say 10 at most but probably more like 8.

I always chalked up the bubble as hideous and awful, but I have to confess that I recently bought a very cute raincoat that has a rather subtle and not-too-puffy bubble hem and I love it. I rather like the first dress and Charlize definitely wears hers with aplomb. But by-and-large I think that most are tacky and unflattering, especially all the ones that came from the 80's - blech. I hated them at the time.

Great Caesar's ghost! That McCall's pattern is HIDEOUS. What IS that? It looks like she survived an autopsy.

I'm not a fan of bubble dresses. They seem rather silly, don't they? I was a kid in the 60s and babies always wore those poofy plastic pants over their cloth diapers. That's what bubble dresses remind me of.

I like the look of many 1950's bubble skirted dresses. Especially on dress forms or in the fashion pictures of their day. I think bubble hems can look good if their not too poofy (the ones on couture allure were nice, hemlines like soft coulds on full skirts, not crazy poof-ball shapes like we saw a few years back), long enough (I'd say to or past the knee) and worn by the tall and/or skinny.

I have to agree. The 50s bubble is attractive on the 50s models with the hour glass figure. But dresses with bows (the Simplicity pattern) or other stuff on the hem are just fugly and too heavy looking.The 80s certainly killed all the elegance and not just from the bubble. The hem then and now is just too short to make the puffed hem look good. And the Simplicity autopsy-survivor dress is just a mess - the hem is too narrow and short and looks just like a loaded diaper...I would never wear a bubble and would never ever make one for anybody - my sister asked me to for her graduation dress but I firmly declined to puff the hem of the otherwise lovely dress.

I would never, ever wear a bubble dress myself, but they are nice for small children. Like 2- to 6-year-olds. It gives the skirt a cute poof without having to have an uncomfortable crinoline, which isn't very practical for young children anyway.

Very good topic. A very bad look, except for ballerinas. How about Audrey Hepburn types? A short girl at church likes to wear them, a very bad look with her chunky thighs, and thicker ankles....I do remember my "teenage" doll sporting one, but then she was more than reed thin (pre-Barbie). Something a little similar, yet attractive, is a Burda over skirt I have, to wear over a slim A-line. Both ankle length. The overskirt is semi-transparent, gored, yet the gores narrow a litttle towards ankle. A bit like a looser "hobble" skirt (for faster walking). Comes with a cool jacket, like a jean jacket. This appeals to me. Maybe with cowboy boots (no Stetson). Cathie, in too humid Quebec.

I think you're bang-on with point number 2- a short bubble makes the proportions look even more odd. Maybe it's just because with a longer, more subtle bubble I can squint a little bit, keep my gaze above the hipline and just pretend it's an ordinary skirt.

Thank you! I generally come around to most styles, but I have never liked the bubble dress or harem pants. I have come to think jumpsuits and playsuits are kind of cute, but I know I won't take the plunge myself.

There is something strangely stifling and claustrophobic about the look of a bubble skirt. And if you have ever tried one on (those tight at the knees version) it feels strange, like being in some weird futuristic ensemble. Maybe that's just me.

Hate them. Was there for their revival in the 80's, and thought they were hideous then. Even secretly wished I was not so keen on wearing flattering clothing so I could get one (I really did). How's that for fashion love....wanting a dress you thought was hideous because it was 'in'. I do think some of those pattern pics are cute, in spite of the bubble, but they are highly staged and not practical. As for Charlize....it looks to me like her long dress somehow got wrapped around her knees--I just want to run up to her and straighten the darn thing out.

Am I the only one who doesn't see much of a difference in the silhouette of a bubble skirt and a skirt with a crinoline? Not that I would wear either one, not the right age or body, but both are cute on the right person.

Ok, here comes an embarrassing confession. My bridesmaids wore bubble skirts. Although I'd never heard them called that. They weren't too poofy but still. Still, a bridesmaid dress wouldn't be a bridesmaid dress if it was attractive!

Having hated them in the 80s, I would normally still be anti-bubble, and anti harem-pant for that matter. But I've seen enough French women carry off both styles beautifully that I've changed my mind. In the right fabric, drape and proportion, bubbles can be a lovely design detail instead of HeyLookAtMeImTrappedInABubble!

I like the bubble dress in the first photo, and the plaid one. In general, I think bubble dresses are one of those things that needs a restrained hand. It's way to easy to add too much competing design elements like ruffles, bows, sequins, etc.

Tulip skirts - I haven't seen many in real life. Maybe that says more about them than what I can say.

50s bubble dress...sure. Any era after that h-e-l-l to the NO! And never ever ever above the knee. I'm not a fan of the inverted tulip either. It hates curvy girls like me. I think it really only works on someone who is rail thin and without hips.

I think Balenciaga was the inventor of the silhouette. Oddly enough, the picture on the top with the length below the knee has elegance....... above the knee looks juvenile. And for God's sake no bows, flowers or any other frou-frou!

Oh, I rather like them. I've made a few knit bubble skirts and dresses and think they are fun. That being said, I didn't wear them the first time around. They didn't appeal to 8th grade me. But, I like them now :)

Dear Peter,I agree with you about the bubble dress/skirt and to tell you the truth, I've seen the patterns and the magazine pics but I've never seen one on an actual person. It is one of those concepts that should work but doesn't. And you're right too about Cousin Cathy,looks totally normal but I am concerned about the baby.(what are you gonna do now?)

This is a bit bilious, but the bubble hem offends me most on otherwise well-cut dresses; it's like a really cute dress that went into an issak denisen novel and contracted kwashiorkor or something - it looks bloated and makes me think of words like "paunch" or "jowls." Like myriad facial piercings and avant garde hair cuts, if you can pull it off, you'd look good in a cardboard box, but this does not mean that the aforementioned should be taken as pretty or for everyone. Cut that hem free! Usually a bubble hem has an amazing amount of fabric in there once you do :)

This post is disappointing, and the comments even more so. I read this blog not for tips on sewing, because I rarely sew clothing, but for the wonderful breath of fresh air you provide the blog world with your open minded perspectives on fashion and your wonderful writing.

The idea that only certain body types can wear a dress is out of step with the generally forward thinking attitude of this blog. Critiquing a fashion style is one thing; saying it only looks good on one body type, age, etc. is another. If you rock it, you rock it, and even if you don't, who the fuck are we to say you shouldn't wear it because you were born with short legs or a big ass? Life is too short for this pettiness.

Jerri: You are right. Everyone has the right to wear what they want, but not every body type lends itself to a particular fashion. Several years ago now, a woman came in where I work to pick up her man friend for lunch. She was about 5'5", 275 pounds and was sporting a skin tight black leather mini. It was disgusting. However, she had the right to wear it. I will give her that!

I think I know what Jerri is saying...I look forward to seeing what Peter has to say because he seems to think so deeply about his interests, he is an excellent and entertaining writer and there is a kindness that comes through his posts.

The last 2 posts however, left me thinking I didn't want to read along anymore. I find picking on the world's ugliest patterns sort of mean and dreary.Each of those patterns depend on what the craftsperson does with them- end of story.

I am totally finished with hearing about the cost of patterns. If they are more than I can afford, I don't buy them. If they are overpriced, nobody will buy them.This conversation also seems sort of petty and dreary...

I have to admit I love the bubble dress. And I loved it in the 80's. But I wore the Cyndi Lauper look as a tween and adored anything floofy. And do still. I'd love to do a bubble dress and I'm realistic, I'm all bubbles. And yes. I'd still wear it and be fine with looking like a giant ass. But I'd like to think that I'm the type who wears my clothes, not let them wear me. I'd make the dress my bitch and it'd work on my tubby curves :)

a boy, a dream, and 10+ sewing machines

I'm a native New Yorker and sewing fanatic! I started sewing in 2009 and today make all my own clothes using vintage sewing machines and vintage patterns, in addition to sewing for private clients. Welcome to the warm and whimsical world of Male Pattern Boldness, where the conversation is sewing, style, fashion, fabric, and more!